Cushion-heel.



. w. H. WATSON.

cUsHIoN HEEL,

LPPLIOATIOK FILED KAB. 11, 1G08.

n Patented oen 4, 1910.

i. A. 'WILLIAM H. WATSON; OF KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

` CUSHION mmh'y Specification f Letters Patent. f Patented Oct, gli 1910.,

.Application filent March 11, 1908. Seria-1 No. 420,382.

To all whomb -it may concern.:

lie it known that l. Wiiaaan ll. .Yzi'rsos, a citizen of' the-l'nit'ed States. residing at Keene. in theeouiity of Cheshii'eand State of ew Hampshire. have invented a certain new and useful .Improvement in Fashionlleels, of which the following is ii specification. reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. 1

f My invention has for its object a new andy improved cushion heel of the kind now fre' ipiently employed on boots andshoes with the object of relievingr thev weauei" of the inpirious jai' occasioned by the employment of a rigid orsubstantially rigid heel such as is produced from lifts of leatheenailed toi getber alid to the shoe. i. I am aware that cushion heelsof a large variety of forms have. already been made. but so far as is linown to me. all of these heels are subject to certain defects to which my improved heel is not subject. This is true even of the rubber heels with fabric plugs inserted in them to prevent slipping.

Furthernnire. the rapidly increasing cost of rubber makes the price if-'"'i'uliber heels containing rubber of a quality good enough to be thoroughly etl'ective as a cushion so high that their sale is greatly reduced.

lleels embodying my invention can be produced at a price considerably less than that of rubber heels' of the cheapest grade, while at the saine time they have the elastic cushioning qualities of rubber heelsainl are not subject to certain defects ol' rubber heels and other cushion heels.

lleels embodying my invention consist essentially ol layers` vof felt iuteruiediate the leather bottoni lift and the heel seat and the whole secured together in such a manner that the elasticity of the heel is not impaired thereby.

lleels constructed iii the'niamier which l will now describe have. all the cushioning ell'ect of rubber relieving the wearer of'all jar and strain. pavements having a leather surface whieii ooiiies in contact with the pavement. They do not chip oll' or run over at the sides as do rubber heels` and they keep their shape by reason of the fact that. the compression takes place between the bottom lift and the heel seat and,' therefore, thebottoni liftA always presents a flat surface to the pavement. The felt 'of which the larger portion of the heel is composed is of a librous char- 'l`he v do not slip on wetaeter and is Acapable of treatment with a variety of substances or compounds so that it has the appearance of leatlici'aiid may be blacked or polished in the same way. In order that it may not absorb water or be softened or decomposed thereby, I thoroughly waterproof it by applying to the heel or the material composing the heel some snitable water-proofing solution or compound or by causing thel heel oi'fthe material therefor to be thoroughly permeated by the said water-proofing solution or compound.

' Heels embodying my invention `can be made at an expense much below that of any other cushion heel so far as is now known to me. t

The invention will be understood trom the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. and the' novel features thereof will be pointed out`A and clearlv defined in the claim atfthe close of the specification.

In the ldrawiiigs,--Figure 1 is a view iii perspective of a heel embodying my invention. `I*`ig. '2 is a longitudinal section of a heel embodying my invention showing a por.

tion of the shoe to which it is attached and the modeof securing it thereto. Fig. 3 is a view in perspeetiveof they upper lift of the y heel. Fig. l is a similar view of the interi-i-iediate lift of felt by means of which the main cushioning etl'ect is secured. Fig. 5 is a similar view of the intermediate lift of leather. Fig. 6 is a similar view of the. bottoni or lower lift'of leather.

, Referring to the drawings .-the heel seat A of the shoe is. shown at l1. see Fig. 2, and against this the heel embodyinv my invention is secured.l The heel itsef is preferably coinposed of two layers 1Q and 13 of feltl and two layers of leather 14 and 15. 'lhe relative thickness of. the'layers of felt an'd leather is dependentuion the amount ot' cushioning etl'ect desired. but- I find it convenient tov make the felt lift 12 which is next thi` heel seat relatively thin and the intermediate lift 13 relatively thick so as to obtain the cushioning effect to a high degree. 'The twoleatlier lifts 11 and 15 are preferably made of a thickness just sufficient to finnish the necessary resistance to wear. The layers or lifts 12 and 13 are made from felt liaving'a hi lrh degree of density and elasticity, such ft being readily obtainable in the market,4 and I prefer to treat the said felt with some suitable water-proof*- `n Aj "972.088'5-" ing substance before "the of the heel' are assembled. The intermediate lifts of felt Y13 and of leather 14 are 1perforated as shown at 16 and 17 respectively with holes which register with each other but the upper and lower lifts 12 and 15 are notso perforated."

.This construct-ion .allows the heads-of the nails 1S,.by.means of which the heel is attached tothe shoe, to seat themselves on vthe under side of the .u er lift4 '12 andv thus the nails do not diminis the cushioning effect of the felt. The three lifts `1 2, 13 and 14 are secured together by means .of stitching 1e passingthmughthe saidfhreeiife. This Ystitching 19 is pulled very tight-compressing the felt sli tly, and holds the parts of e' heel secure y together but does Vnot; di#

minish inthe lleast the eiectivenessfof the layers of felt as a cushion. The heel is then nailed onto the shoe by means of the nails tached to the heel by 'means of the [short affords a Vproper hold forthe tacks 20A by which the outer lift or layer 15 is attached .to the heel, and thesaid outer liftor layer closes the' holes in the lifts or. layers 13 and f 14 through which the nails by which the heel c is' attached to the shoe are inserted. It will Y seen that this bottom lift or tread l5 rethe wear, and, that the feltis not@ ceives a subjecte to any attrition but only to coinression due to. the weight of the wearer. he tread 15` covers the stitching 19 and protects it from Wear. It'will also be. seen that the bottom lift or tread 15,- bein made of leather and somewhat sti, ten sto distribute the compressionover the entire area of the heel @d also anat main asf.'

find in actual. practice that this results in. a'

minimum of wear on the heel, and that vthe t' l 45" the surface presented ,to thegroundV is of heel does not tend to vlose its shape. Also as leather,th`e heel has little or no tendency to` slieonwet'pavements asdo 'rubber heels. A

r the parts of the heel have been assembled, the. outer surface maybe waxed, as, shown at 21, or treated with rubber solu` tion or any other suitable substance to afford a. surface capable of being blacked or polished. W'hen so; treated andfinished, my

improved' heel hasl the appearance of a rleather heel. I also find that although the tread surface of my improved heel is of the noise-deadcning ,qualit-ies of the felt. I claim asmy inventionz- A cushion Vheel comprising a relatively thin lift or layer of felt through which the fastening nails'by which the heel is attached to the shoe may pass, a relatively thick lift f,

or layer of-felt provided with a series yof holes, and a lift or la er of leather .also provided with a series o holesregistering with the' holes of the thicker fe be inserted, these several or layers bet layer, and 'n through which holes the fastening nails may Y r 70 ing securedtogether by stitching, and the leather, it is almost noiseless by reason 0fk i 'l 'i en' f said heel, when completed, havin in addition to the lifts or layers aforesai an outerV lift or layer of leathervproperly secured in place.

in presence of two witnesses.,

-' rWitnesses:

. Geenen P. Dina, v y Amon H. MORRISON',

WILLIAM H. WATSON. Q jV t. 76 In testimony whereof I aix my signature, l i- 

